A Feast for an Empress
by Raudhr Blodhgarm
Summary: This is general backstory on the Dishonored-verse, specifically that of Daud, Corvo, and Empress Kaldwin. CorvoxEmpress, possibly some bow-chicka-bow-wow in later chapters. May or may not end once the Empress is assassinated. Inspired vaguely by OMFGCATA/Jesse Cox's playthrough of the game. Also, not just a kid word vomiting his dreams on a page. It's actually content.
1. Chapter 1

**A Feast for Kings**

**Chapter 1**

**(This is going to be a general backstory to the general history of the Dishonored-verse, specifically Corvo, the Empress, and Daud. If you've seen Jesse Cox/OMFGCATA's playthrough of the game, that's a good guideline for how this is going to go.)**

The Empress raised her eyebrows as she looked across her desk at the Serkonos Emissary. "I happened to notice that among the other generous gifts your proud people offer us…" she sugar-coated her words, softened and embellished them, without even thinking about it. She had been raised to do so, after all.

"Go on, Empress." The slight man across from here let a small smile grace his lips. "Is there an ambiguity? A small error in phrasing? I should hope not. Serkonos lawyers are purported to be the finest in all the isles."

They are, the Empress sighed to herself. No one we have could've slipped that in so subtly. "It mentions, in clause…" she glanced around for the coding, then shrugged. "That one." She pointed to it. "It mentions the gift of a 'Hand' to be used as I wish. A Hand is a…" she made an interrogative gesture.

The Serkonos man smiled again. "A title given to our finest warriors. A man trained in all the arts of warfare. Corvo's the best of the best, your majesty. Surely you would not turn down our generous offer?" the ambassador didn't smile this time, but a gleam in his eyes betrayed him.

Jessamine bit her lip. "Of course not, I didn't intend any rudeness…" she glared at the offending sentence. "He should make a fine officer in our guard." She nodded briskly.

For the first time that morning, the expression of the foreign diplomat was completely genuine. Bare, raw shock. "Surely you jest, m'lady! The finest warrior in all of Serkonos, assigned to anything less than your personal Royal Protector?"

Empress Kaldwin raised an eyebrow. "I cannot simply assign a man I do not know to the highest martial position in the country, regardless of any skill he should display, or the generosity of his giving."

The diplomat returned the expression. "I'm afraid you must. It is the act which seals our contract."

"Surely a small adjustment can be made…"

"I'm afraid not, your majesty. Such an act would be a refusal of trust. If you cannot trust the best of us, how can we trust you?" The man replied.

Kaldwin winced. He was right, of course. But for obvious reasons, she didn't like the idea of a foreign agent having unquestionable access to her quarters. Serkonos bore no hostility to Gristol now, but tension was thick between the two countries, and you don't wait for a snake to bite you before you kill it. An assassination of Gristol's monarch would be a masterstroke, and it certainly fit the dramatic flair of their culture.

She shrugged. Caution be damned, she needed the materials the Serkonos government was offering. She wouldn't trust this "Hand" any farther than her handmaids until he'd proven himself.

She nodded. "Very well. This shall mark the day Serkonos and Gristol join their might in union and friendship." She signed the contract.

"Thank you! I shall bring word to me Emperor, and we shall both rejoice. All of Serkonos shall rejoice, for we are pleased to have such a kind and powerful ally!" The ambassador cried. He gathered the contract and made for the door. Just as he turned the handle, he remembered something. "Of course, and here is your new Royal Protector." He threw open the door, revealing a tall, darkly dressed man. "He shall assume duty immediately."

Jessamine chose to ignore the sudden suspicion that he had been waiting outside to "convince" her to sign the contract. For as the old Serkonos saying went, should the silken words of diplomats fail, steel will persuade.

She studied him closely. He wore the leather clothes of his homeland, and a hood over his head. In the shadow of this suspicious addition to his cloak, she could make out a surprisingly young face, even including a layer of stubble. His eyes were bright, and she read the message, "So you're the Empress? Don't look like much."

She shook off the fanciful notion. No mere bodyguard would dare entertain such notions. "So you're the Empress? You're rather unprotected, wouldn't you say?" the hooded soldier smiled. "Of course, before I arrived." He slid behind her, and stood to attention.

Jessamine laughed. "I am more well protected than you think, Protector." She had assigned guards to watch hidden spyholes to the room, should the "diplomacy" go sour. No one was harming her in this room, she thought.

"The captain, Rivers, is asleep, the two on the left are playing Whaler's Dice, and fourth one is imprisoned for skirt-chasing the royal handmaids. But you're right, you are well protected. For I feel no need to sleep, nor to gamble my gold away, nor to chase after other pleasures. My only pleasure comes from service. So I thank you, your majesty." He muttered under his breath, for her ears only.

Jessamine showed no reaction, but inside, she was picturing the terrible vengeance she would bring on these unfortunate four. "I meant not that I put my trust in those men who I brought with me, but he who I bring back." She sensed, rather than saw, the smile that split Corvo's face from ear to ear.

"Quite right, m'lady."

**(Read, review, and go play Dishonored, my marshmallows. Go. What are you doing still reading this? Really, this just a grand old rant of wiffling and waffling, there's no reason to keep reading. Why are you still here? I told you to go! Y U NO LEAVE. Fine, you know what, fine. Corvo's gonna take the hits for this. You think he suffered enough in the canon-universe? Terrible thing are going to happen to him. Review with the words butternut waffles if you read this. BRAND YOURSELF A REBEL! Corvo will take the hits. I swear it on… on… ON MY LOVE FOR TORTURING CORVO! BIATCH!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Feast for an Empress**

**Chapter 2**

**(As always, here are the reviewer response(s)!**

**The Fox Familiar: Yeah, I am a bit out there. Also, I meant to, but forgot to, slip in a thank you to Diplomatic Gestures Chapter 1, as that's the only one I've read. It is the inspiration, but the plot and main idea is my own. I don't know what to think about this review, in that I'm not sure if it's positive or negative. And no, PewDiePie is the one that screams all the time. Jesse is a 50 year old former history teacher turned Let's Player, and is a good deal more intelligent and interesting.**

**And on with the chapter.)**

The Empress glared down at her mischievous child. "How many times must I have told you? You are an Empress, not a commoner. You need not mingle with them."

The completely unrepentant child glared back. "But I should know what they think, shouldn't I? That way I can help them."

The monarch of Gristol shook her regal head. "No. No. They are there to help you, not the other way around. After all, I'm here, and so are the rest of my counselors. We can attend to the city's problems."

The small child squinted at her. "I don't think you do a very good job. The people didn't seem to like you too much."

The Empress gasped and snapped "Hush child! You don't know what you say."

Slowly, the heir to the throne raised an eyebrow. "Not really. I just know what they say."

The Empress seized the little girl's arm and stared her in the eye, her anger apparent. "You. Know. Nothing. You are a stupid little girl. You will attend to your studies. Now."

The small child averted her eyes. "Yes, Mother." She sulked all the way to the tower.

When she moodily threw open the door to her study, her tutor didn't bother to glance up. "Jessamine. Please be gentle with the door. I assume it's not the cause of your frustration?"

Jessamine Kaldwin, the Empress-to-Be, stormed to her desk and sat down forcefully. Through gritted teeth she muttered "No, Mr. Redmond."

The grizzled man raised his eyes from his book. "My, aren't we formal today? I told you, in this room you are not Empress-to-be, but Jessamine Kaldwin, my student. You are accorded no extra favor, nor responsibility, but given only that which you earn. No more, no less. By the same token, neither am I to be treated with the many titles to Empress burdens me with, or the medals she insists I have. I am John Redmond, the tutor, and I am to be given whatever respect I've earned." He returned his eyes to his book. "And I'm fairly certain I haven't earned the use of the term 'Mister.'"

At this Jessamine couldn't help but smile. "No, you certainly haven't, sir." She beamed, putting extra emphasis on the last word.

Redmond glanced up in surprise at the gesture. "You're very kind. And more to the point, you're damned clever too. For which reason, of course, I do believe you may be able to help with a bit of a conundrum. You see, Sokolov has been working on something to do with whale oil, but not the kind we boil down from the fat. You see…" he stood up and began showing her a diagram.

The young royal fell on the problem with a passion, a burning desire to solve this mystery. After some detailed analysis, Jessamine frowned and said thoughtfully "I suppose that this oil must power a similar system to what Sokolov is designing, but organic, of flesh and blood. Something to help it survive. A food source, perhaps?"

Not for the first time that morning, John Redmond looked at her in surprise. His mind had been running along much the same lines. "Dissections show no such evidence… But perhaps we're looking for the wrong things. Tomorrow, we might be able to visit the harbor and see if we can take a peek."

Jessamine squealed with delight. She adored the harbor, with its huge ships, salty smell, and the men who worked there, speaking in a dozen tongues, laughing, yelling, fighting, and altogether being bad influences on a respectable young girl. And the respectable young girl loved every second of it.

"Do you think we might see Admiral Havelock while we're down there?" she asked eagerly. Havelock was her favorite. He always smelled of smoke and salt, and she had already come to associate these smells with a release from the daily pressures of live around the palace. Having never known her father, she idolized Havelock as the ultimate male authority in her life.

"I should hope not." Redmond laughed. "It takes far too long to get you to leave his side. Though I don't blame you, having never known a real man like him before now." Jessamine hugged her tutor tightly.

"You're a real man to me, sir."

Redmond shook her off halfheartedly. "Now, no emotional nonsense. You'll make me go soft."

Jessamine smiled mischievously at him. "Of course, of course, sir." She said insincerely.

"On your way! You've wasted enough time here already." Redmond made a gentle shoo-ing motion.

The young girl shrugged and went on her way. She didn't pay any attention in the other classes. Needlework, public speaking, proper manners, all of these she deemed unimportant. What wasn't important to her people wasn't important to her, and Lee, an old man who lived in the slums, had taught her that such things were most definitely NOT important to her people. He'd had a few choice words to say about most of the things she was taught about Dunwall Tower, some of which she'd heard before. And several of them were new to her.

**This is not the end of the chapter, merely an intermission to mention that if I get some minor fact wrong, please don't bother telling me in a review. Spend that valuable time informing me about the grammar mistake I'm sure I'll make. M'kay? M'kay.**

It had started out as a normal day, Daud thought. Would it have been too much to ask that it end that way?

He had been in his small fishing boat, reeling in a net, when the vision had struck. At first, he'd thought he'd slammed his head into something and was hallucinating. Then he thought that he might just be dead.

That had riled him, all right. For two reasons, mainly. First of all, he wanted to know how he had died. He wanted to know what had gone wrong. Secondly, the land he was in didn't seem like Heaven, and he didn't want to consider the other option. A void, endless so far as he could tell, a limitless monotony broken only by the small series of floating cobbles on which he stood.

And then, oh then, everything had changed. He had been surveying his surroundings, feeling panic mount in his chest, and had turned around to see a young man with black eyes studying him with cool amusement.

"Oh, Daud. How young you are. How innocent. How doomed you are to lose that." Daud had stood in awestruck silence. "I suppose I might as well introduce myself. I'm the one who stands in shadows. The twilight walker. The great shepherd." He said with an air of sinister implication. Daud looked blankly back. He had heard of none of these titles, and was beginning to think the man facing him was mad.

The incomprehension must've shown on his face, because the stranger added "The Outsider. I've noticed that though you hold no place in the world, you stand out. You are your own man. The honest one among a herd of cattle and liars. So I give you a blessing, two-fold. One side, a power." He gestured to the fisherman's hand, and the young man gasped with pain as a symbol burned itself into his flesh. "The other side, a word." He leaned in close. "Gristol." And with that, everything went black.

**(Not bad, eh? Yay for Daud and for OC's! By the way, if you review, I will respond to you, assuming you reviewed the latest chapter out. Reviews galvanize me to action. Go forth, my marshmallows, and spread the common sense to the world beyond.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Feast for an Empress**

**Chapter 3**

**(Le reviewer responses:**

**The Fox Familiar: If you had waited until later in the chapter, it became apparent that Emily was not the little girl in question, Jessamine was. In other words, the Empress you know was the child, and her mother was the current Empress. It was a bit of deception, meant to confuse you at first. I'm sorry it didn't clear up. Once again, I'm not quite sure if you're flaming me, and I honestly don't care.**

**Thanks for the reviews.)**

Daud opened his eyes blurrily, blinking once or twice to clear them. He tried to rise, and then immediately sat down as he was hit by a wave of dizziness and nausea. He lay on the planks of his fishing boat, wondering what happened.

Fishing Boat.

Pass-out.

And then, horror of horrors, the Outsider. Daud gagged, and this time not from vertigo. Had he, Daud, the poor Serkonos fisherman, actually seen the Outsider? Well, there was one way to check.

He glanced, reluctantly, and the back of his hand, and then sighed in relief. The skin was smooth and unbroken, no mystic runes branded into it. As he rose, he caught sight of his OTHER hand, and promptly scrabbled in pure terror off of the boat, and right into the waiting arms of some hagfish.

He floated, frozen with shock, for a few moments, but that didn't last long once he caught sight of the tiny, beady eyes of the creatures next to him. He swam bitterly to shore, kicking through the cold brine with every ounce of strength in him. Tiny, cautious teeth were nipping him now, but they wouldn't remain so shy. He swam wildly, trying to make it towards shore, but the rolling ocean made it hard to determine his direction. He rose to get a good look, and felt a jaw close firmly on his forearm.

The writhing form in the waves screamed, and dove down to try to make better time and shake off these aquiline predators. His feet struck a few, his flailing arms more, but the supply seemed never-ending. He screamed and thrashed in the water, but truthfully, that only attracted more of the beasts.

As he felt his energy, finally sapped by the cold, fade away, he clutched at shore, cursing his bad luck. As he passed out, not for the first time that morning, he almost thought he saw the rune on his hand glow.

Jessamine Kaldwin, Empress of Gristol, wasn't in a good mood. As she stood at her window, looking down on the world below, she noted that her guards were once again putting down an insurrection. For now, they held themselves to clubs and the threat of blades, but she knew that soon enough, the blades would have to be unsheathed. Every bone in her body was anathema to violence against her people, but what choice did she have? If she left them to their own devices, they would burn down the palace.

She shook her head and turned away from the window, only to find her "Royal Protector" calmly sitting in her room, consulting what appeared to be a map of Gristol. "Signor Attano, if you would refrain from coming into my quarters without making yourself known?"

The young Serkonos soldier raised his eyes briefly, gave a cursory nod, and then returned to his business. "Do they not teach manners where you come from?" she snapped, giving vent to her anger.

"I'm sure they did. But really, considering most of my interactions were across blades, I didn't find it relevant." He replied curtly.

Jessamine had been summoning a withering retort when she realized that she was of much the same mindset, if for different reasons. She stood thoughtfully for a moment, and then sat down behind her spacious desk. "Tell me about yourself, Attano." She said. "It occurs to me that two individuals who will work together as closely as we should know each other quite well."

Corvo snorted. "Hadn't occurred to me yet."

Jessamine raised an eyebrow. "Attano."

The young man sighed. "Of course, your majesty." He muttered, putting extra emphasis on the title. "I am but a mindless soldier from Serkonos, here for your protection and service, and I live and breathe only to serve you, O great and magnificent one." He said, lacing the words with sarcasm.

"And I am but a mindless girl, puppet to my counselors, and will most definitely put up with such insolence from a stranger." She replied venomously.

To her surprise, Corvo set down his papers and favored her with a brief smile. "I'm sure you are. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I was born in Byzaranti, a small coastal village. When I was young, men from the inland capital came and took me away to be trained to kill, preferably, without being killed. I haven't seen my parents or brother since then. My time in the surrounding city tempered my innocence with a certain cynicism, and a sharp tongue." He smiled. "Fortunately for you, my blades are yet sharper."

Jessamine nodded. "I suppose that is fortunate for me. I pray that your wit is sharper than either of your other two assets." She looked pointedly at him, and he nodded in deference to the statement. "I, myself, was raised in the city by our beloved," here she spoke with a great deal of sarcasm, "Empress Irene, at least ostensibly, and not so ostensibly, by my tutors."

Corvo nodded. He understood others stepping in as a parental figure. "Are any of these fine educators still in the city? I think I might make their acquaintance, as a matter of policy. Intelligent men are so hard to come by."

Here Jessamine found an uncomfortable lump in her throat. "Most have passed on to other lands." She said quietly.

Corvo raised an eyebrow quizzically, but let the matter drop. It was clearly a sore point with her. He shrugged. "I should likely be going, assuming you will remain safe in the palace?"

The Empress made a noncommittal gesture. "I was thinking of going out to the marketplace to talk with the harbormasters. It helps the people's morale if they see their leader talking knowledgeably of the difficulty of climbing tarred ropes." she smiled. "Though it breaks the noble's hearts." She added.

Corvo nodded. "The rope burns can be a bitch."

Jessamine's eyebrows contracted quickly into a frown. "You may be afforded a certain amount of informality with me, Signor Attano, but do not overstep your bounds."

Corvo sighed. "Just when I was beginning to think you were a worker at heart. I'll alert the captain of the guard that you'll be taking a stroll." He rose and made for the door.

Jessamine shook her head. I'll never make a noble out of that one, she thought.

In many ways, she was right.

**(Was it good, bad, ugly? Tell me, meh marshmallows! There's a review button for that express purpose. Well, keep reading my friends.)**


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